Selling house - fixes before moving out

advice_please_2

So our legal documents came through stating any damage when leaving the property of sale needs to be fixed.

So my thinking is if walls are dented when moving furniture. Fine, I agree on that. But if its marks, dents to plaster boards its a lot to do in day of moving out and buyers moving in, so what's best way to sort this?

For my main question, since the buyers last viewing part of the Artex has come loose of the ceiling in the ensuite. Would you get this sorted?

Dan-Dan

I think a little bit of careful manoeuvring can eliminate the dented plasterboard risks; i know i wouldn’t be happy if our vendor had managed to dent plasterboard with furniture!

Hermoine

I would fix the artex ceiling.

I would be less bothered about any accidental scrapes when moving out - although I would tell any removal firm I use to be careful. Its normally pretty hard to tell if its caused by you moving out or the normal wear and tear of daily life... Leaving the place clean and tidy is far more important! I would always keep cleaning materials including a vacuum cleaner to one side and give the place a bit of a clean after the place is empty of furniture. If you don't have time to do this or don't want to, it might be worth finding a cleaning firm who would come in and do a quick clean. If you communicate this to the buyers via estate agents/solicitors they can time their moving in to be after the place is cleaned. Negotiation/discussion with the buyers is generally pretty helpful - they might not want be able to move in at the moment of completion anyway if they are completing on another property somewhere else in the country.

lessonlearned

A few scratches and marks to walls often occurs when moving out.

Do what you can to minimise damage.

I went through the house a few days before the actual move, took down all the paintings, filled in the holes and repainted over them, together with any marks or scuffs I spotted. This makes less work on the actual moving day.

Once the place was empty I gave it a thorough clean and noticed a couple of marks made by the removal men. It only took a couple of minutes to touch them up again.

I also left unused paint for my purchasers so that they could do any little repair work in case their removal men did any damage.

You definitely need to repair the artex ceiling. It's still your responsibility.

lawriejones1

I think you need to use some common sense here and treat the house as if it were still your own.

A reputable removals firm would protect items like sofas for instance, and wouldn't bash and bump the walls. A minor scrape is acceptable, a dent in a door or a broken stair spindle wouldn't be.

This also goes to major marks and damage on the carpets (coffee mugs on the floor are never a good idea)...!

Some people like to pinch pennies when they move and some do it with a bit of class. I'm not religious, but there is an element of Karma at work here.

moneyistooshorttomention

I am watching this thread for views on this. The reason is that I bought a quality readymade up item of furniture...without thinking how it would get upstairs when I had it brought into the house.

It took a hefty swipe at a stairwall in the process of getting it upstairs in the end...:o:(:o. I've made good the damage and it cant be spotted now, but am worried that it might take another "swipe" at the wall on the way back downstairs when I move out. There is no chance I will leave this item behind for my buyer - as it's far too good quality for that...so I'm crossing fingers nervously about it and guessing all I can do is minimise the chances of that damage happening again by sticking bubblewrap on the corners (or would the sellotape I used for that damage the finish on the item itself?).

lawriejones1

Your best bet for protecting an item of furniture is to cover the corners in foam or polystyrene (we would often use a type of pipe insulation foam) and then wrap the whole thing in plastic covering (like cling-film, the sort of thing you get on a sofa when new).

All of which you should be able to get from a decent DIY store. This will help protect you, your item of furniture and the walls!

Unfortunately, bubble wrap, when it's popped, offers no protection at all so isn't really suitable for this sort of usage.

It's always surprising when doing removals how many people will scrimp and save on packaging materials for their expensive possessions. You're doing the right thing considering it now!